I got this email from the casting director for a cave "survivalist" show. If you are interested, contact her, not me

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------My name is Alicia Good and I’m the Casting Director on “DARKNESS”! The series is a test in mental fortitude. Participants spend six days with other people in the dark in a cave or abandoned mine and have to complete challenges.

We will be filming between April and June 2017 and would need you for ONE week. Yes, there is compensation when/if you’re cast on the show.

If you are up for it, just click on the casting link below. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have. We’d also appreciate it if you could share with anyone else you think might be interested.

"never explored environment"!! Sounds like virgin cave. Maybe the challenge will be to survey 2000 feet of cave in utter darkness (okay, the Disto will provide a touch of illumination). This is show hype, of course...I can name 10 trips that have been a week underground (but they had lights). I do hope they have a blue bag program in place for human waste, etc. We need to get a Letch caver on board.

I'm trotting back out this comment from 2014 as I think it is pertinent again:

"Periodically, these types of proposals are posted and I've commented on these types of shows before, i.e. "high energy individuals with lots of personality" which, to me, translates almost invariably to "contrived and embellished soap operish pseudodrama" for (I assume, correct me if I'm wrong) profit, not that there's anything wrong with that : ) per se, but the downside is it risks damaging the reputation of cavers, attracting willful or accidental vandalism, harming landowner relations, making caving look foolhardy, creating rescue situations for unprepared people who decide they want to cave and rush out after seeing the show, etc. The upside is.... uh,.... hmmmm.... they make money! (they hope)....and some people get their "15 minutes of fame".

I don't see much else, maybe some people would get interested and become good cavers that wouldn't otherwise, or the company will make a conservation donation, or some other positive effect of publicity, but IMO the likelihood of negative consequences is much greater. Having said that though, usually, actual documentaries of exploration are a different matter and there is probably plenty of real drama for any director and audience in many exploration stories."

My name is Ward Houston and I’m helping to cast for a new Survivalist show. I found you while doing research online and wanted to reach out to contact you in regards to this project in the hopes you or some of your American counterparts might be interested in participating. The series is for Discovery and it’s a test of fortitude. Participants spend six days with other people in the dark in a cave or abandoned mine and have to complete challenges.

Please help us spread the word!

We will be filming between April and June 2017 and would need you for a week. Yes, there is compensation when/if you’re cast on the show.

If you are up for it, just click on the casting link below. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have. We’d also appreciate it if you could share with anyone else you think might be interested.